


A New Golden Age

by Philippians967



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Starvation, Orphaning, Parental Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 10:11:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4431263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philippians967/pseuds/Philippians967
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a family of inventors is orphaned in Narnia, they will change Narnian history forever and bring about a new Golden Age, the likes of which have never been seen in Narnia. But this new Golden Age comes with new and terrifying dangers and loyalties and morals as well as family ties will be tested. Will Narnia survive its new Golden Age or collapse under the regime of progress?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Beginning and An End

It had been sudden, one second the family had been happily driving down the mountain road, the next they were barreling down the mountain, until they hit the bottom with everything going black. When Serena came to, she was immediately aware that something was off. As she carefully sat up she saw she was in a forest laying in soft grass. She was relieved to see all five of her kids unconscious but unhurt around her. She carefully got up, made sure she had no injuries, and went waking her kids. In about ten minutes the family stood awake and uninjured if a bit shaken. Serena looked around trying to find anything familiar. Unfortunately not even the car was in view. Meaning they had nothing but the clothes on their backs. The second youngest, Simon, spoke up voicing the question they all had.

"Mommy,where are we?" Serena looked down at her son. Trying to think of an answer that wouldn't frighten him and found none.

"I don't know sweetie. But I'll find out." She hoped wherever they were she could find help. The family silently walked the forest. No one had spoken since Simon asked the question but the fear was palpable. They walked until the sun began to go down. They were all starving and thirsty and the two youngest, four year old Simon and 6 month old Lily-Grace, were being carried by the two oldest siblings,sixteen year old Alexis and fourteen year old Alexander. The middle child, 12 year old Vincent, walked uninhibited. Lily had started crying in the early hours of the morning out of hunger. Serena managed breastfeeding for part of the day but ran out hours ago and Lily eventually stopped crying. She was the only one who got anything close to a meal. When Serena had determined she'd found a safe place for her family to rest she put her eldest in charge and had to go look for food when they heard a noise that made them freeze. A growl.

"What was that," Alexis whispered. Serena put her finger to her lips and motioned the kids behind her. The growl became and then she noticed there were several distinct ones. As she picked up a large branch red glowing eyes appeared in the forest around them.

"When I tell you to. I want you to run okay,"she whispered to her kids. They nodded vigorously. Suddenly the forest burst into action as several large furry masses lunged at the family.

"RUN!" Serena as she swung her branch and what appeared to be a large bipedal wolf. The kids took off into the forest with Serena following closely behind. Tree branches and leaves licked at their skin causing trickles of blood to fall eliciting howls from their pursuers. They broke free of the forest and into a clearing only to see they were at the edge of a cliff. A panicked Alexis turned to her mother.

"What are we gonna do?" Serena looked around and saw that the other side of the cliff led to another forest.

"Run back into the forest there," she ordered," I'll follow once I get them off my trail." The kids quickly followed their mother's orders. Not a moment too soon as the wolf creatures had broken the tree line. Alexis stopped and turned around to see her mother. Her siblings noticed this and stopped to watch the battle unfold with her. Serena still held the branch, waving it threateningly. The wolf creatures began to circle dangerously around looking for an opening. However it's what the creature said that made the family's blood run cold.

"Mmmm. Fresh man meat," it growled before lunging. Serena swung as hard as she could knocking the creature but another jumped at her. She managed to dodge the attack but not without getting dangerously close to the cliff's edge. The wolves went to an all out assault that Serena tried her best to hold off until one wolf managed to tackle her, sending her and the entire pack over the cliff's edge.

"NOOO!" Alexis screamed attempting to run to her mother's aid. A hand gripping the back of her shirt stopped her in her tracks and she turned to look at Vincent's tear stained face. She looked over the four kids she was now responsible for and made a decision.

"We have to keep going until we find food or someone to help us," her voice wavered but did not falter. Her family continued to stare at her with tearing eyes.

"It's what mom would want," she stated just managing to finish before her voice hitched. She started walking further into the forest. Four children followed silently behind. Only crunching leaves and a long soulful howl could be heard in the forest as two families mourned lost loves.


	2. Where Are They Now?

Two Years Later  
“Hmph,” the old centaur grunted, nodding his head approvingly. Vincent thought he could have gotten a more verbal response after working on this painting for three weeks but he would take what he could get. He smiled appreciatively and then began to clean up his mess.  
“You have improved greatly since you first came to me a year ago. You should be proud,” the centaur, Stormseer, stated. This was the most the centaur had said conversationally to him in the year he’s been here.  
“Thank you Sir,” he said sincerely, “but that’s mostly due to your teaching.” He grunted again and then looked at the boy thoughtfully.  
“What do you intend to do with the painting,” he asked after a while. Vincent paused, the centaur had never asked him what he did with his paintings before and Vincent feared telling him lest he ask more questions about his family situation.  
“Oh, probably just hang it up in the living room,” he said quickly running his hands through his dark hair and noting he needed a haircut. He hated lying to the closest thing he had to a friend but it wouldn’t be the first time and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. His mentor believed he was the son of a fairly well off farmer, he had both his parents, and that he wanted to hone his art skill to join the royal court to become a court artist. Only the last part was even slightly true, he didn’t want to be an artist, but he did need to hone his art skill and he was trying to become part of the court. But he and his family had agreed upon the cover story years ago and he intended to keep it. The centaur stared at him again as if assessing him.  
“Perhaps I should visit your home sometime to see your paintings hung on display.” Vincent felt the cold grip of fear wrap around his heart. He knew it might have been slightly suspicious to the centaur that he’d never spoken to or seen Vincent’s parents but he’d hoped the centaur would attribute that to the fact his father was busy farming. Although the fact that in the few personal conversations they’d had he’d never mentioned anything about his parents maybe slightly less explainable.  
“Y-yeah that sounds great,” he stuttered before practically running out the door. The centaur felt his suspicions begin to grow.

 

Vincent opened the door to the abandoned shack he and his family had called home for the last two years. He heard the familiar sound of little feet running toward him before a small mass launched itself into his arms. Vincent laughed and caught Lily-Grace in his arms, snuggling her up under his arm and closing the door.  
“Hello Lilly pad, did have a good day.” The two and a half year nodded vigorously wrapping her pudgy arms around his neck.  
“Very good, Vinny.” He grinned and walked into the kitchen. Alexis was cooking on the stove he’d built a year ago. One of the first things they’d tried to do when they’d moved here was create as many modern amenities as possible. So they had a stove, oven, running warm water, and basic electric lamps. Alexis was stirring something in a pot, she was wearing a plain blue dress and her inky black hair was up in a bun. She turned and smiled at him, her blue eyes brightened and she walked over giving him a hug while also taking Lily and setting her in front of some pots and pans on the floor.  
“How was work and lessons today,” she asked.  
“Good. I upped the number of grains a managed to bale today so we have some extra money this month.” Her smile faltered slightly before she went back to cooking. In the beginning they’d argued constantly about the fact he didn’t need to work so hard to make extra money. Eventually she gave up after he picked up extra shifts at the farm in order to avoid her, but he tried to not bring up money to often in the house. He also felt bad about lying to her, while he did get a little extra money from work, he got most of it from selling his paintings. Nobody except Simon knew he sold his paintings, after catching him in the market when he’d had gone to buy lunch. He knew if anyone found out he’d been in for the lecture of his life.  
“So are Simon or Alex home yet?” he asked changing the subject.  
“No. I thought Simon would be home by now, he was gone before I’d left for work. They must be having him clean the furnaces.” She stopped talking then turned to him with an angry expression.  
“He better not track soot into the house again.” Vincent laughed, remembering the fiery expression his sister had when the youngest boy had walked all through the house with a trail of black soot behind him. He’d been covered head to toe, only his light blue eyes visible in the dark backdrop of his body, and stained the couch, floor, and covers on the boys’ bed with soot. It was hilarious to watch his brother shrink under their sister’s glare as she’d rung out her most impressive lecture to date. It was not so fun to have to sleep with only a thin sheet to keep them warm on an autumn night though.  
Vincent helped set the table and played with Lily for a while before going out back to the shed telling his sister to call him when the others got home. He sat down on his work bench and began tinkering with his newest invention. It had taken all of them in order to hash out an idea that would work and now Vincent was building it. The Fair was in three months during the festival for the summer solstice. The Fair was an event during the summer solstice where artist, inventor, doctors, scientist, and other intellectuals showed off their greatest products in hopes of either getting funds or being picked by a court. This event was his chance to use his skill to get his family out of this one bedroom shack and into a better life. His entire family had special skills, really were geniuses. They each had sheds behind the house where they could practice their ‘crafts’.  
Vincent was the ’inventor’ so to speak, his skill was building and creating new gadgets.  
Alexis was a biomedical engineer, creating anywhere from medicines to new imaging technologies. She'd actually been in college before they came here.  
Simon was the chemist, he was just getting into his skill when they’d left but now he was creating incredible synthetic fibers and creating a brand new metal with incredible commercial uses. He'd learned his metallurgy skill from the dwarves he worked for.   
And Alex, he was the environmentalist. He’d come up with new form of ‘super’ grain and ways to get more food with less land.  
They all were incredible creators and geniuses in their own right, however none them can truly bring their visions to life without each other. Each one having a skill the others need, so when they start projects, the entire family gets involved. It had taken them six months in order build all the labs and equipment they needed for experiments and new needs come up often. They managed to make most of their equipment using old, discarded parts and a lot of time. Meaning while it took them months to get where they were, they spent next to no money to get there. Soon after finishing their labs they heard about The Fair and knew this was their chance. Well Vincent knew, the others took some time to come around.  
Vincent tinkered with the energy source for their invention. He only had a few finishing touches left before he’d start on the machine it was going to power. He worked for an hour and a half and the sun had gone down forcing Vincent to use the electric lamps they’d built before his sister called him in. They all sat at their places at the table, the same places they’d sat before coming to Narnia, and the only empty seat was the one at the head of the table, where their mother had sat. They’d bought six chairs out of habit and didn’t have the heart to throw it out. There was even a plate and utensils at the seat. The family hadn’t actually talked about their mom since that day on the cliff, the only sign they remembered her was the seat at the head of the table. They were all there except Simon, who was washing off out back because yes, he did clean the furnaces today and yes, he was covered head to toe in soot. A few minutes later they were all sat at the table shoveling food onto their plates asking about each other’s day.  
“So how was work,” Alex asked Alexis.  
“It was fine. Had to go in early to mend a duchess’s dress who’d torn it on her way out of the shop,” they all laughed knowing how picky and uppity nobles could be.  
“How was yours,” she asked.  
“Great actually. The grains are meeting all expected growth milestones. We should have all our results by the time the summer solstice rolls around,” Alex rambled on for a while about his grains. A wealthy lord with a large farm had allowed Alex to use part of his land to grow his super grain, in return he got part of the profits. They would have used the super grain in the Fair but they felt uncertain about when they would have the results ready so they went with Vincent’s machine. Once Alex realized he was rambling he stopped talking, blushed, and asked Vincent how his day was. He did this every day so you’d think he wouldn’t be so embarrassed anymore.  
“It was fine,” he answered,” got some extra money from work and finished that painting I was working on.” Simon gave him a knowing look when said this. He knew ‘extra money from work’ was code for selling a painting. Alex’s eyes widened with excitement.  
“Oooo. Can we see it? Please.” He begged. Vincent nodded walking to the entrance to grab his bag where the painting was held and took it out. Walking back over and presenting the picture. It was his best yet and his family ooed and awed over it.  
“It’s amazing Vincent, better than anything I could do,” Alex complemented. Alex was the ‘artist’ of the family before they got here. He drew all the schematics and outlines, but after moving here and having to get a job he didn’t have time to do so anymore. That’s why Vincent started the art lessons with Stormseer, so he could do it himself.  
“Pwetty, “Lily cooed. He always showed his paintings to his family before he sold them. As far as they knew he left them at Stormseer’s house to keep them safe. He’d started selling them after a passing noble saw a painting and offered money to buy it. He would have told them under most circumstances but after seeing his sister’s response to just picking up extra shifts he knew that wasn’t an option.  
After the family finished gawking they all went to their labs, well except Lily. She was put to bed. The family usually worked for a few hours after dinner, but most of the family was in bed by midnight. Except Vincent, who usually passed out in his lab and woke when the sun rose and got cleaned up and left for work. He started doing this soon after thee labs were finished. He and his two brothers shared a single bed and Lily and Alexis shared the other. It was all they could afford. His brothers had to wake up earlier than the rest of them, both of their jobs were a bit far and Simon had to be at work by dawn most days and sometimes only got back right before nightfall if he had to clean furnaces. He worked for a clan of Black Dwarves, helping out in various ways. He was the main reason Vincent wanted to do this, his brother was only six years old and working twelve hour days six days a week. The dwarves were unaware of this, he was tall for his age and especially for a dwarf and they’d had few interactions with humans. He enjoyed his work, but they needed him to work, he brought in the most money and all the discarded metal and chemicals they needed for projects. Vincent hated they had to rely on such a young boy for money. Although the job was Simon’s idea, after their family almost starved to death their first winter Simon went right to work and never looked back. Vincent closed his eyes and brought his focus back to the project. The only way he could make the situation better was by finishing this project.  
Several hours later all the family except Vincent was in bed and Vincent felt his eyes begin to droop. He jerked up and rubbed his eyes. He knew he was going to fall asleep soon and so he set his alarm clock. He usually woke with the sun but he needed to wake up early so he could get to the market before work and sell his painting. He went back to the schematics he started on the machine he was building but his vision began to swim and he felt his eyes droop. He gently rested his head on the work bench silently promising to only take a ten minute nap before soft snores filled the young inventor’s lab.


	3. The Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not as sure of this chapter as I am the others, so leave comments about what you did and did not like about this chapter and the others so I can know what to change and what to keep using. Thank you and enjoy.

Alexis hummed an old Narnian tune as she dropped clothes into her laundry basket. She had been most fortunate today, the owner of the dress shop she worked at was out caring for her sick mother so she and the other girls had a paid day off. She’d already dropped Lily off at the babysitters before she’d left for work so she decided to use this day to do some cleaning which the house desperately needed. She’d just picked up all the dirty clothes and was prepared to put them in the washing machine when there was a knock at the door. She paused, wondering who could possibly be at the door. Their shack was in the middle of woods and down a barely seen path. The only people she could imagine showing up was someone who was horribly lost. She put down the basket and walked to the front of the house and swung the door wide opened. She was not expecting to see a centaur holding her brother brothers notebook.  
“Hello,” he said, “does Vincent live here?” Alexis nearly fainted as she realized exactly who the centaur was that stood before her.

After Vincent had practically run out of his home Stormseer had spent the rest of the evening pondering the mystery that was Vincent. When he'd first come to him, he thought him nothing more than a spoiled wealthy farmer’s son. However after spending a few hours with him it was obvious he was good boy and would grow to be a great man. Now Stormseer wasn’t one to have personal conversations on a whim, so he wasn’t surprised when the boy didn’t divulge much information about his home life. However spending the last few hours thinking of the boy he almost considered a friend he became aware of how little he knew about Vincent and frowned at the thought.  
Before now he was never concerned by the fact he'd never mentioned his family after the first day they met. But now they were almost friends and he’d come to care for the boy, and spending hours together had made him realize he was hiding something. At times Vincent would lose his usually cheerful demeanor and would seem to drift off to some far away time and space. It was times like those he came close to removing his cold, calm mask and hoping the boy would open up to him. He’d decided some time ago he would visit the Vincent's home to ensure he was safe and cared for, but he could never find a good excuse and he couldn’t just show up uninvited for no reason. He continued to mull around a plan in his head when he noticed something on his work bench. He picked it up and realized it was the journal he would see Vincent occasionally write when his eyes would suddenly brighten and then dim back as he began to furiously scribble in journal. He didn’t know what the boy was writing but the journal seemed important to him. Then Stormseer realized he could use this as his excuse to visit the his home.  
Besides, he thought, there might be something important in there that he might need before his lesson tomorrow. And so Stormseer decided that first thing tomorrow he would go to Vincent's home and return the journal. Stormseer felt satisfied with his plan and was all set to sit back with some warm tea and a nice book by the fire when he discovered the flaw in his plan. He didn’t know where the he lived. He knew the general direction the boy went when he returned home and that he lived on a farm, but he never asked for more specific directions. He felt a pang of regret go through him at how closed off he’d been towards Vincent and decided he would be more open from this time forward. As for finding the house, he would just have to do some asking around and knock on a few doors. He sighed at the thought of spending his morning going door to door but was comforted by the knowledge he would be helping Vincent. There would be no more secrets between them.  
The Next Morning  
He’d woken early this morning, setting out after a quick cup of tea and a small breakfast. He’d walked a good thirty minutes before he ran into a person to ask directions from. Apparently not many people had seen a dark haired, blued eyed young man walking through the forest. The first person he’d met who had actually met and talked to him was a Faun who’d helped Vincent carry some groceries all the way to an old beaten barely there path where he’d sent the Faun off saying he could take it from here before striding off down the path. That was the first and last time he saw him. Stormseer thanked the Faun for his information and followed the Faun’s directions to the beaten path. The Faun said he knew of no homes that way except maybe a longed abandoned cabin. Stormseer hoped that the boy just lived in a well-hidden cabin and hadn’t just happened to be walking down here and lived somewhere completely different.  
He walked for about fifteen minutes before he noticed some faint smoke coming from the forest to his left. A well-traveled path led in that direction and Stormseer figured that the people who lived there had seen Vincent and could give him better directions. When he approached the cabin he noted it was small, maybe only one bedroom, but was richly decorated and had a well-cared for garden filled with blooming flowers. Stormseer stood for a moment just enjoying the view before walking up to the door and knocking. Seconds later the door swung opened revealing a pretty young women with dark hair that almost reached her waist and wide blue eyes. She wore a simple burgundy dress and looked quite surprised to see him. If she hadn’t been so obviously a woman he might have mistaken her for Vincent. Stormseer cleared his throat and greeted the young woman.  
“Hello,” he said, “does Vincent live here?” Her eyes widened further and he feared she would faint.  
“I’m Stormseer his art mentor. I came by to return his notebook,” he said quickly pulling out the notebook.  
“Is he here?” She swallowed harshly before shaking her head.  
“No, no he’s not here,” she spoke quietly before motioning him inside. He walked inside and noted that the house was small and while it was not dirty it was obvious quite a few people lived here.  
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name.”  
“Alexis,” she said, “I’m Vincent’s older sister.” She walked into the kitchen and heard the sounds of clanging metal and ceramic dishes.  
“Would you like some tea?” he heard her call from the kitchen.  
“Yes that would be lovely.” Stormseer was too busy trying to figure what exactly Vincent’s home life was actually like to wonder why Alexis hadn’t started a fire in the hearth to make the tea. Obviously Vincent didn’t live on a farm and he’d never mentioned siblings even though he clearly had at least one. Stormseer began to wonder just how much of the little he knew about his friends life was true. Alexis came back moments later with a steaming cup of tea which he placed on the coffee table in front of him and Alexis sat across from him in a an old beaten chair. They sat in silence for several minutes before Stormseer broke the silence.  
“So where is Vincent?" Alexis looked even more nervous than she already was and didn’t look at him before she spoke.  
“He’s at work.” Stormseer was surprised, he hadn’t thought Vincent had a real job, other than maybe helping his father on the farm that he is aware now doesn’t exist.  
“He works?” The girl nodded still not looking him in the eye.  
“On a farm a few miles away on a lord’s estate.” So that was the farm. It would explain why he always came to his lessons a little sunburned.  
“Are you his only sibling?”  
“No, no there are three others. Two boys and a girl. The two boys are at work and the girl is with the sitter.” Stormseer couldn’t believe how little he knew about Vincent’s personal life. Four siblings and a job he had no idea about. Stormseer felt even worse than he had yesterday, and made up in his mind he would no longer have such huge secrets between him and his student. But now he was slightly more concerned by the fact that three of the siblings had to work.  
“Why must your siblings work, do your parents not care for you?” He instantly regretted the question when the girl paled and began to tremble slightly.  
“My apologies, I should not have pried,”  
“No its fine. Our parents,” she paused and began to tremble even more. Stormseer crossed the room and took her hands in his own. She swallowed thickly before continuing.  
“Our parents are dead,” she finished with a whisper. Stormseer felt a rush of sympathy flow through him and he took the now sobbing girl into his arms rubbing her back and whispering soothing words to her. Once her tears had finished she began to apologize profusely but he told her she had nothing to apologize for. She mentioned laundry and Stormseer offered to help her do the house work and she accepted thanking him. He was surprised and confused by all the machines she used to clean the clothes and explained that Vincent had made many such machines to help the family. She explained that he and the family were sort of inventors and that she would go into more detail when all the family returned. They spent the day cleaning together and Alexis left for a few minutes and came back with youngest girl called Lily who was fascinated by his beard. Stormseer knew that he had uncovered a well-kept secret for this family and that the confrontation he would have with Vincent would either make or break his friendship with Vincent. He hoped for the former and steeled himself for the discussion they would have when heard the front door open and close and Vincent’s voice call:  
“I’m home.”


End file.
